Environment

Australia’s ‘insurance’ koala population halved by bushfires

by Glenda KWEK Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — At least half of Australia’s only disease-free koala population, a key “insurance” for the species’ future, is feared dead with more badly hurt after bush-fires swept through an island sanctuary, rescuers said Sunday. Kangaroo Island, a popular nature-based tourist attraction off the coast of South Australia state, is home to many wild populations of native animals including the much-loved koala, where the populated was estimated at […]

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Barcelona bans older, most polluting cars

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Barcelona imposed a ban Thursday on older, more polluting vehicles during most of the day in a bid to reduce air pollution in Spain’s second largest city. Gasoline-powered cars registered in Spain before 2000, and diesel-powered cars registered before 2006 are now banned from most city streets on weekdays between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm and face a fine of at least 100 euros ($112) if they violate the rule. All banned vehicles […]

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2019 was hottest year on record for Russia

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — This year was the hottest ever registered in Russia, the country’s weather chief said on Monday, as climate change pushes global temperatures to record highs. “This year in Russia was the hottest for the entire period of instrumental observations,” the head of the Gidromedtsentr weather service, Roman Vilfand, told Russian news agencies. He said Moscow’s average temperature for 2019 had hit 7.6-7.7 degrees Celsius (45.7-45.9 degrees Fahrenheit), beating the previous […]

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Rhino believed to be ‘world’s oldest’ dies aged 57 in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (AFP) — A black rhino believed to be the oldest in the world has died in Tanzania at the age of 57, according to authorities in Ngorongoro where the animal was living. The female rhino, named Fausta, died of what is believed to be natural causes on December 27 in a sanctuary, after living most of her life in the wild, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority said in a statement on […]

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Climate change caused 15 disasters costing over $1 bn this year: charity

PARIS, France (AFP) — At least 15 natural disasters linked to climate change this year caused damage of over $1 billion and seven of them cost at least $10 billion, British charity Christian Aid said Friday. This year is set to be the second hottest year in history and each of the disasters in the report has a link with climate change, Christian Aid said. “Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, struck every corner of […]

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Elephants in Thailand ‘broken’ for lucrative animal tourism

by Sophie DEVILLER and Jonathan KLEIN Agence France Presse Separated from their mothers, jabbed with metal hooks, and sometimes deprived of food — many Thai elephants are tamed by force before being sold to lucrative tourism sites increasingly advertised as ‘sanctuaries’ to cruelty-conscious travelers. Balanced precariously on hind legs, two-year-old Ploy holds a ball in her trunk and flings it towards a hoop, one of many tricks she is learning in Ban Ta Klang, a […]

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‘Not a single species’ affected by Galapagos fuel spill

Quito, Ecuador (AFP) — The Galapagos Islands’ unique wildlife was spared after a barge carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel sank, causing a spill, the Ecuador government told AFP Monday. “Not a single species has been affected by the spill in San Cristobal,” the easternmost island in the chain, said Environment Minister Raul Ledesma. He added that a team of veterinarians was onsite checking animals. Authorities activated emergency protocols Sunday morning to contain the environmental […]

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India leads world in pollution linked deaths: study

India leads the world in pollution-linked deaths followed by China and Nigeria, according to a report published Wednesday that estimated the global impact of contaminants in the air, water and workplace. The report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) found pollution to be the largest environmental cause of premature death on the planet, causing 15 percent of all deaths — some 8.3 million people. Among the ten countries with the most pollution […]

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Australia beats hottest day record by full degree

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia set a record for its hottest day ever for a second straight day, with an average national maximum temperature of 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 Fahrenheit), a full degree higher than the previous mark, officials said Thursday. The Bureau of Meteorology said the new nationally averaged maximum was reached Wednesday, topping the 40.9 degrees hit Tuesday, which beat the previous record of 40.3 C in January 2013. As the heatwave […]

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Toxic Sydney bushfire haze a ‘public health emergency’

  by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s biggest city is facing a “public health emergency” over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned Monday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits. Hundreds of climate change-fuelled bushfires have been raging across Australia for months, with efforts to contain a “mega-blaze” burning north of Sydney destroying an estimated 20 homes overnight and fires near […]

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UN chief calls climate summit a ‘lost opportunity’

by Marlowe HOOD / Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse Madrid, Spain (AFP) — A major climate summit wrapped up in Madrid Sunday with a compromise deal that left little to show, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to lament a “lost opportunity” to act. Almost a fortnight of COP25 talks just squeezed out hard-earned compromises from countries over a global warming battle plan that fell well short of what science says is needed to tackle the […]

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The upside-down world of UN climate diplomacy

  by Marlowe Hood  MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Given the stakes — the survival of civilization, no less — it didn’t seem unreasonable to expect 196 nations gathered in Madrid to forge a global warming action plan to declare, in clear and simple language, that they would do a bit more, do a little better. COP25’s final declaration, for example, could have called on countries to foreshadow — preferably before the end of next year […]

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